Bernard Leach pot at Oxford Ceramics

Bernard Leach, Pot, c.1963 (Courtesy of Oxford ceramics)

During a visit to Oxford Ceramics Gallery I was shown this diminutive pot made by Bernard Leach. With a very faint cross impressed on the surface and a delicate handle barely large enough to be held between thumb and forefinger, the pot expresses the qualities of balance that Leach strived for, at a small scale. Yet, what really caught my attention was the folded piece of paper that was extricated from the inside of the pot by James Fordham (founder of Oxford Ceramics Gallery). Usually we are met with vacant space with ceramics exhibited and stored in museums and galleries, but here was the receipt, carefully folded and crammed inside (see image below)

The pot was sold for £100 by The Craftsmen’s Shop in Fore Street, the receipt stating that it was ‘MADE BY HIM IN PERSON’ adding ‘CONSIDERED ENGLAND’S LEADING MAKER OF POTTERY’. Parking to one side whether you agree with the seller’s judgement, what struck me was that this was sold by The Craftsmen’s Shop, a forerunner of the The New Craftsman in St Ives, retails spaces for craft that are the subject of an exhibition here at the Crafts Study Centre. The Craftsmen’s Shop was founded in 1952 by David Leach and Robin Nance and was part of the buoyant independent craft and art scene of that decade. By 1963, the date of the receipt, the shop was run by Janet Leach, who later in 1965 opened the New Craftsman. From 1965-1976 the shops were ran in tandem (represented in the gallery by the wonderful graphics of their branded paper bag for shop purchases) with Janet Leach consolidating the businesses into the New Craftsman from 1976. The business grew, selling the best of contemporary craft, and still operates today as The New Craftsman Gallery, owned by Ylenia Haase.

The exhibition is curated by Greta Bertram and is dedicated to Professor Simon Olding, Director of the Crafts Study Centre from 2002-2022. A publication by Simon Olding and Greta Bertram to accompany the exhibition is available to buy from our shop.

Bernard Leach, Pot, c.1963 and receipt (Courtesy of Oxford ceramics)